Fair Harvard

"Fair Harvard" is the alma mater of Harvard University. Written by the Reverend Samuel Gilman of the class of 1811 for the university's 200th anniversary in 1836, it bids the school an affectionate farewell. Of its four verses, the first and fourth are traditionally sung and the second and third omitted. Its first line was revised to read "...we join in thy jubilee throng" between 1997 and 1998. As a side effect of the change, the word throng, a verb in the original lyrics, became a noun.

The song is set to a traditional Irish air, best known in early 19th century America as "Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms", a popular song whose lyrics were written by the Irish poet Thomas Moore. The tune is occasionally wrongly credited to Sir William Davenant, whose library may have been a source of the music for later publishers.[1] (The tune is also a newer setting of "My Lodging Is In The Cold, Cold Ground".) Horatio Alger Jr., an 1852 graduate of Harvard's Divinity School, composed his "Harvard Odes" I-IV, and Paul Laurence Dunbar originally wrote the lyrics of the "Tuskegee Song", to the tune.

The music makes an appearance in the 1951 animated cartoon Ballot Box Bunny featuring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, as well as in the opening bars of the 1982-83 pop hit "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners. It is also referenced in The Simpsons episode “The Front” (Season 4, episode 19).[2]

1998 revision

The term "sons" was eliminated to make the song gender neutral.[3]

2017 revision

In 2017 Harvard announced it was running a contest to replace the last line of the song "Till the stock of the Puritans die". In early October 2017 semifinalist potential replacement lines were announced.[4][5] The final replacement line was chosen as "Till the stars in the firmament die." [6]

References
  1. William Davenant, 1606-1668. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2010-02-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), accessed Feb. 3rd, 2010.
  2. lilkiedis07 (2016-01-13), Harvard - The Simpsons, retrieved 2017-11-09
  3. Why is Harvard ditching the puritans? By Sean Coughlan, BBC news
  4. Stevens, Matt and Hartocollis, Anemona. Harvard Seeks to Write ‘Puritans’ Out of Its Alma Mater. New York Times April 7, 2017. Accessed October 7, 2017
  5. Guillaume, Kristine. Diversity Task Force Announces 'Fair Harvard' Lyric Semifinalists. Harvard Crimson October 3, 2017. Accessed October 7, 2017
  6. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/03/harvard-issues-task-force-report-on-inclusion-belonging/
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